Kenai Fjord Tour

[bluetiger9192]

We are already doing a cruise tour that goes through College Fjord and Glacier Bay. Is doing a Kenai Fjord Tour necessary given this or is somehow different?

 

We have 1 week indpendent land tour prior to the cruise.

 

Thanks.

[frugaltravel]

"Necessary"? Not much is "necessary."

 

What else are you doing in the week before the cruise? Seward is a great town and you will get closer to marine wildlife and glaciers on the Kenai Fjords tour than on your cruise ship. And if you take the train to Seward the day of your cruise, you can easily fit in the KF trip before you sail.

[ellbon]

there are other options for that day too. the sealife center, exit glacier.. list goes on.

[Chenega]

Kenai Fjords is very different from Prince William Sound. Although you will visit a glacier, the emphasis is on marine wildlife, particularly with a visit to the Chiswell Islands which is a major area for a variety of birds and sea lions.

 

You will really enhance your trip by paying a visit to the Sealife Center in Seward before or after your trip. Takes an hour or so.

[kathryn747]

The Kenai Fjords tour was great, we saw orcas, puffins, sea otters, seals, etc... I was so glad we did that boat tour, we didn't see any wildlife on our cruise unless you count jellyfish.

[gertz]

There are a number of must see or do's and the Kenai Fjord 6 or 9hr tour is one of them. The train from Anchorage to Seward is an other in fact it was featured in last Sundays Parade Magazine.

[NHsnowpup]

We are already doing a cruise tour that goes through College Fjord and Glacier Bay. Is doing a Kenai Fjord Tour necessary given this or is somehow different?

 

We have 1 week indpendent land tour prior to the cruise.

 

Thanks.

 

Bluetiger, you also are asking about transfer to Seward on another post and that you would be on the Seward Highway before that. What is your whole plan, what cruise from where? It sounds a little like you are repeating or backtracking?? Little more info., would get you more helpful info.

[bluetiger9192]

Hi NHsnowpup:

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

For preliminary itinerary is as follows:

 

- Day 1: Anchorage to Seward scenic drive with stops

- Day 2: Kenai Fjord boat tour, Exit Glacier

- Day 3: Seward Sealife Center in morning, drive from Seward to Denali

- Day 4: Full day in Denali (we plan on getting the 3 day for price of 2 days shuttle pass)

- Day 5: Full day in Denal

- Day 6: Full day in Denali

- Day 7: Drive from Denali back to Anchorage, explore

- Day 8: Take early morning transfer to Seward to catch cruise ship (departs at 8pm that day) - I guess we'll just hang out around the cruise ship terminal until we can start boarding

 

I'm not big on museums, etc. - more on scenic drives, etc.

[frugaltravel]

Hi NHsnowpup:

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

For preliminary itinerary is as follows:

 

- Day 1: Anchorage to Seward scenic drive with stops

- Day 2: Kenai Fjord boat tour, Exit Glacier

- Day 3: Seward Sealife Center in morning, drive from Seward to Denali

- Day 4: Full day in Denali (we plan on getting the 3 day for price of 2 days shuttle pass)

- Day 5: Full day in Denal

- Day 6: Full day in Denali

- Day 7: Drive from Denali back to Anchorage, explore

- Day 8: Take early morning transfer to Seward to catch cruise ship (departs at 8pm that day) - I guess we'll just hang out around the cruise ship terminal until we can start boarding

 

I'm not big on museums, etc. - more on scenic drives, etc.

 

Have no idea why you are going to Seward twice, not to mention the 12-15 hour drive from Seward to Denali, which has been confirmed more than once by locals (RV's, accidents, roadwork, mudslides, you name it). Your top priority that day would be to get on the road. No time for Sealife Center that day.

 

How about:

 

- Day 1: Anchorage to Denali

- Day 2: Full day in Denali (we plan on getting the 3 day for price of 2 days shuttle pass)

- Day 3: Full day in Denal

- Day 4: Full day in Denali

- Day 5: Drive from Denali back to Anchorage, explore

- Day 6: Spend time in Matsu Valley - maybe even spend night of Day 5 there.

- Day 7: early morning train to Seward, Sealife Center and Exit Glacier

- Day 8: 8am or 11.30am Kenai Fjords tour, board ship after that

 

No need to "hang around" the cruise ship terminal on Day 8. You do all you wanted to do, you have an extra day to sightsee (Matsu Valley), and you use your Day 8 much more wisely than hanging around. For what you pay per day for your trip, you really don't want to be visiting cruise ship parking lots :-). And you really don't need to be boarding your ship extra early - you will spend all of Day 9 on the ship with no port. Plenty of time that day to explore the ship.

[NHsnowpup]

Thought it sounded like you were repeating yourself from your two posts. We're planning our first and trying to squeeze in as much as possible without wearing ourselves out, too much.

 

I agree with frugal here and second this as a better itinerary for starters. As an option, Day 5/6 you could get more Anchorage time for Coastal trail hike/bike along water for Earthquake Park or maybe Native Heritage Center which doesn't sound very "museumy," as it's an outside park. Save some wear and tear, enjoy, see more. If you wanted to do more stops along the way from Anchorage to Seward, there are some transfer/tours that stop at many of the pull offs and some at the Conservation Center. The one we're using arrives in Seward around 10:00ish and was running a special if you took the Kenai tour. Still cheaper than the one-way rental drop probably. That train leg though gets high reviews, too.

 

Planning is a blast!

[bluetiger9192]

Thanks for the response. The reason I chose to go South to Seward first and then North to Denali is because I am coming at the end of May (29th) so that Denali road to the Eiselen Vistor Center doesn't open until June 1st. I am also doing Seward on my own as opposed to the day of the transfer is because there are 4 of us so the roundtrip week-long car rental in Anchorage plus doing 6-hour Kenai Fjord boat tour on our own is significantly cheaper than doing Seward on the day of the cruise ship departure (we were able to get transfers from Anchorage to Seward for $30 per person after we drop off the rental car). Also, we wanted to spend some time doing Portage Glacier, Exit Glacier and stop of the other stops from Anchorage to Seward and it doesn't seem like we would have as much time to do all this if we go on the day of the cruise ship departure. I also have BIGI free for the 6-hour Kenai Fjord boat tour. Although I am backtracking the distrance from Seward to Anchorage, it seemed more economical in aggregate.

 

Is this flawed thinking?

[PennyAgain]

It is flawed thinking to assume that the road to Eilesen in Denali will absolutely open on June 1. It opens when it is safe to use and reasonably free of snow at the higher elevations.

 

They do there best to open it for that date, but it may be opened earlier....or a bit later.

 

You can telephone up there (also check the WEB site) to get updates on what is open and what is still closed.

[frugaltravel]

I disagree with Penny. The road is actually cleared of snow earlier than the road is "open," at least every year I have been following it. But they can't run buses there on a regular basis until the road dries out a bit. However, with the schedule they set, they allow for all of this. And they run bus driver training on the western portion of the road in late May, another reason the road is not open to shuttle buses yet. I have never heard of a year they have opened the road earlier than scheduled to Toklat, Eielson or Wonder Lake. Can you remember a specific year, Penny?

 

Heck, the road is already open to mile 15 right now. Much less snow has been encountered this year than normal. So I can't see any reason why Eielson will not open as planned on June 1st.

 

In your itinerary, is May 29 Day 1 or is May 30 Day 1? In any case, I would not plan on driving all the way from Seward to Denali in one day. And having the road in Denali only open to Toklat is not the end of the world. Still great vantage points for seeing Mt. McKinley before mile 53. And you can hike around Toklat to possibly see wolves. It is said that bears are often spotted between Toklat and Eielson, but that is later in the season. When Denali is not very green (the time you are going), the bears are much more spread out in search of food.

 

Is your Anchorage to Seward transfer booked and not changeable? That could make a difference in your planning too. But think of 4 x $30 = $120. A one-day, one-way car rental with Hertz from Anchorage to Seward costs $250, or about $33/person more. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a big difference and might allow much more flexibility and allow you to avoid the Seward to Denali in-one-day drive from hell.

[bluetiger9192]

frugaltravel,

 

Thank you so much - I'll look into breaking up my trip from Seward to Denali into 2 days. My weeklong car rental (Anchorage drop off and pick up) is only $220 so I was hoping to keep this (rather than supplement with a one-way Anchorage to Seward rental). I was also going to go to Denali as close of my 6/6 cruise ship departure as possible (as we really want to spend as much time on the 3 day shuttle bus as possible).

[frugaltravel]

Def don't change your car rental - you will lose the great rate.

 

How about this?

 

Day 1 (May 30) Anc to Seward, Sealife Center

Day 2 May 31 Exit Glacier, drive to Portage Glacier, Girdwood, Wildlife Conservation Center, stop for groceries in Anc or Wasilla, overnight Talkeetna or nearby (Trapper Creek is good too)

Day 3 Jun 1 to Denali, entrance area activities

Day 4 Jun 2 shuttle bus

Day 5 Jun 3 shuttle bus

Day 6 Jun 4 shuttle bus

Day 7 Jun 5 to Anchorage, maybe stopping in Matsu Valley

Day 8 to Seward, take 11.30am Kenai Fjords tour (does B1G1 work for this tour time?), then to ship

 

Honestly, I am not sure that it is worth going to Seward just for the Sealife Center and Exit Glacier if you can do the KF tour on Day 8, which I am almost sure you can. If it were me, I would take Day 1 to drive along Turnagain Arm, Portage Glacier, Girdwood, maybe even Hope, etc. Maybe even a Prince William Sound tour. Then day 2 explore the Matsu Valley area and overnight in Talkeetna or Trapper Creek, Day 3 to Denali. Another option is to do the KF tour on Day 2, then drive back to Anchorage after that. Day 3 drive to Denali. Day 8 upon arrival in Seward, go to Exit Glacier and Sealife Center. Easy to get around Seward without a car (taxis or Exit Glacier Guides go to the glacier)

[bluetiger9192]

frugaltravel, thank you so much! That sounds like a good plan. That way we'll have something to do while waiting to board the ship!